Fifty years ago today President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was gunned down on the streets of Dallas, Texas. He and his wife Jackie rode in a open-topped Lincoln. Spirits soared as the crowds cheered the young president and his beautiful wife as the presidential motorcade moved through the streets of the city. The morning of November 22, 1963 started out overcast and rainy, but when they arrived in Dallas the sun came out and it was a bright, sunny day.

Kennedy was the youngest man ever elected president at age 43. He exuded energy, hope and new ideas. In October 1962 he saved the world from nuclear holocoust by defusing the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was the first president to speak publicly on the issue of civil rights, and in fact gave a televised speech on the subject, something no American president dared do to that point.

The Cold War between the two superpowers, the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union, dominated the world in 1963. Both countries had enough nuclear warheads and missiles to destroy mankind several times over. After the crisis of 1962 Kennedy and the Soviets had made progress to begin to reduce tensions. The first treaty of any kind related to nuclear weapons, The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty abolishing atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, was signed by Kennedy and the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. There was hope.

Then the Lincoln entered Dealey Plaza and shots rang out. The president was mortally wounded. Hope died. The world went into shock.

The weekend was spent entranced by television images, the assassination, the capture of a suspect, the body lying in state in Washington, the murder of the suspect, the funeral, and the burial in Arlington National Cemetery. Especially poignant were the images of Jackie and Caroline kneeling at his casket in the Capitol saying their goodbyes, his young son John saluting his father’s casket as it rolled by, and the lighting of the eternal flame at his grave. Even now these images tear at my heart.

It all seemed so surreal. It was unbelievable back then and still is today 50 years later. John Kennedy was only 46 years of age. He had been President of the United States and leader of the Free World for just over a thousand days.

As of today over 150 million people have visited his gravesite in Arlington. Most I am sure like me reflecting on the what-ifs.

It has been almost 47 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in downtown Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Thanks to the release of new documents and the scientific analysis of evidence with new technologies the truth is gradually being uncovered.

Who cares, you say? I believe that to preserve democratic societies the truth must always be uncovered.

First the official version of what happened as outlined by the Warren Commission Report hinges on the following key points,

1. Lee Harvey Oswald was the only gunman. He and he alone killed the president.

2. Only three shots were fired in Dealey Plaza that day. The first shot missed and slightly wounded James Tague who was watching the motorcade. The second shot hit Kennedy in the back, exited from the throat area, entered Governor John Connally seated in front and to the side of Kennedy, this broke several bones in Connally, and changed direction several times. Finally this bullet was found on a stretcher in Parkland Hospital in pristine, undamaged condition. This is the so-called “Magic Bullet” theory.

3. The third shot struck Kennedy in the back of his head causing his death.

4. All shots originated from the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository behind the presidential limousine.

5. There were no others involved in the assassination.

While there have been outrageous theories and ridiculous speculation put forward about the assassination, new evidence and new technological analysis of existing evidence has debunked most of the findings of the Warren Commission. Without firm evidence to identify a motive or actual shooter(s) here are some proven facts that contradict the record,

1. At least one shot and possibly more originated from the Grassy Knoll to the right front of the president. The fatal head shot struck Kennedy in the right front of his head. Analysis of the Zapruder Film proves more than four shots were fired at the president that day. That evidence alone proves more than one shooter.

2. Oswald’s prints were not found on the 6.5 mm Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, that is alleged to have been used to kill Kennedy.

3. A paraffin test done on Oswald at the time proved he did not fire a rifle on November 22, 1963. This is an accepted test in the law enforcement and legal community. It detects GSR (gunshot residue).

4. The medical evidence proves the exit wound in Kennedy’s head was in the rear. Parkland Emergency doctors observed this, as did autopsy doctors, but they were ordered not to report this. Blood splatter, brain matter, and a large skull fragment all found to the rear of the limousine prove this. Again this was not included in the Warren Commission. In my belief this absolutely proves the fatal head shot came from the Grassy Knoll to the right front of Kennedy.

5. About half of the witnesses to the assassination reported shots from the front of the limousine (the Grassy Knoll). These witnesses were either not interviewed by the Warren Commission, or their testimony was ignored and discounted.

Tape recordings of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s directions to Chief Justice Earl Warren prove the Commission was ordered to find Kennedy was killed by one assassin, that assassin being Lee Harvey Oswald. The findings of the Commission were predetermined by the president, the FBI (J. Edgar Hoover), and the CIA. No other conclusion was acceptable.

I recommend the following books supporting these conclusions:

The Zapruder Film: Reframing JFK’s Assassination, David Wrone, University Press of Kansas, 2003